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NBC 7's Omari Fleming talks with attorneys for Jason Bradford, the father of Haley and Jason, Jr., about the lawsuit filed following the toddlers' tragic drowning in May 2013. (Published Thursday, April 3, 2014)

The father of two toddlers that drowned in the backyard pool of a La Mesa home last year has filed a lawsuit against the tots' mother, boyfriend and the homeowner.

The Medical Examiner's report noted that, even at the tender age of two, Jason Jr. showed more compassion and more maturity than his mother Tassie Behrens.

When the toddler tried to wake his mom, telling her his 16-month old sister Harley was missing on the morning of May 13, 2013, the report states his mother told him to go back to sleep.

Behrens later awoke to her children's lifeless bodies in the pool of a La Mesa home where she was staying on Sunset.

Drowned Tots' Mom Appears in Court

NBC 7's Elena Gomez reports from a pre-trial hearing for Tassie Behrens, the mother arrested after originally telling officers wrong information about where her two toddlers drowned.

“He wasn’t there at the time to be with his children and they were being taken care of by Mom and she didn’t do her job,” said attorney Jeffrey Greenman.

Greenman is one of the attorneys representing Bradford in a recently filed lawsuit claiming negligence against the landlord, the children's mother and her friend.

The suit notes Behrens and her friend Larry Deangelo, who was renting the home, used it as a marijuana growhouse while the children were inside.

The suit claims landlord Terrence Mann is culpable in the children's deaths because a fence wasn’t put up around the pool - a possible violation of California's Safe Pools Act requiring fences around pools.

"Pool deaths happen annually if we’re not safe and proactive about our own properties that tragedy can happen in a blink of an eye," exclaimed Purdy.